US Army excavates for treasures, antiques in Manbij city: source

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Bulldozers of the US Army in northern city of Manbij have been digging day and night looking for archaeological treasures buried in the Kurdish-held town, local sources told Zaman al-Wasl.

Manbej, 80 km north-east of Aleppo, is one of the oldest cities in Syria, and its existence dates back more than 4,000 years.

According to the source, the excavation sites are located in the Umm al-Sarj mountain, the citadel and the old wall of the city.

Many archaeological sites were completely bulldozed by heavy machines, he added.

Since 2016, the United States sent special forces and several military convoys to the self-administered city amid fears of Turkish assualt.

The excavations are carried out openly and in broad daylight in the archaeological tombs, in the eastern area of ​​the city next to the industrial zone, and in the center of the Syriac archaeological site, which was subjected to some sabotage.

Daesh (ISIS) was the first militant group to encourage antiquities dealers to dig in the ancient sites in primitive and destructive ways.

According to archeologists, coins struck at the city before Alexander's conquest record the Aramean name of the city as Mnbg (meaning spring site). For the Assyrians it was known as Nappigu (Nanpigi). The place appears in Greek as Bambyce and Pliny (v. 23) tells us its Syrian name was Mabog (also Mabbog, Mabbogh). As a center of the worship of the Syrian goddess Atargatis.